Cloud Clothing--A New Fashion

Painting from Pinterest, Russian artist

Hello Ladies,

I have created fog fashion, rain fashion, desert fashion, and overcast sky fashion, but 

what do you wear with clouds?

Today is the first of the Cloud Clothing fashion line. We have been through the desert and been through the rain with my line of clothing, and now we are going through cloud season.  You can see by the grim look on my face how uncomfortable it is out there in the cold and rain. 

There is not a clear sky to be found, and so today for a special treat, I present one of the cloud dresses I have sewn.

 The umbrella had a little blue in it so I used it as a prop, and yes, it was raining too. Mr. S. took two pictures when he was on the tractor.  I like to catch him when he is already outside.  Two pictures. Maybe he is trying to save film like he used to back in 1952.  

There is not much to say about this dress except the color, called China Blue, a Waverly cotton, and the fact that I used several different patterns; one for the sleeves, another for the top and another for the skirt area and of course my signature ruffle at the hem, to give the fabric more weight and  keep the dress from flying around in the wind.  Therefore, I cannot recommend any particular pattern. It was an experiment.

Here it is on the dress form. It has some tucks in the front and piping at the neckline. When I use piping or rick-rack at the necklines and sleeve cuffs, those areas don't get so thin and faded and the dress lasts longer.

In case we ever see the sun again, I decorated a plain white hat with dollar store florals. I think I might have got the hat at Dollar Tree a few years ago.

This dress was "okay" and I will wear it at home. When I go anywhere I will put a jacket on to dress it up a bit.  I've got one more cloud clothing idea and hopefully will be able to post it before the season is over.  I'm doing a lot better this year. Usually I start a garment and then the season changes and I have to do something else, saving the project to finish the next year, or the next, or the next. I always hope I don't gain any weight while I wait.

Do You Have Your Own Pemberley?

 Some of you may have seen the beautiful reflection of Chatsworth House in the  1995 A & E production of Pride and Prejudice. 

The reflection in the lake was  beautiful and I noticed in the landscape of previous eras, other houses "well situated" with a reflection in water.

This farmhouse is also depicted in a movie, with a lake reflection:

Our rain season creates ponds in our lawns and driveways, and some people have their very own Pemberley.

While I am waiting to finish a rain fashion sewing project, here is a reflection of The Manse in our private lake after

the recent downpour:

You see, lake reflections are not respecters of  location, time in history, landed family or social standing, so, any of us can have a Pemberley. 

Maybe you have your own Pemberley-esque reflection.

It looks like a worn out driveway with a huge mud puddle, if you aren't thinking on the bright side.

This metal bridge would do well across that pond and go nicely with The Manse, do you think?  It would be nice if Hobby Lobby or the local home and garden stores had them. I've only seen them in garden catalogs.

Do you think there are more than four seasons? What about cloud season, or changes in weather in between seasons? Here, we also have Gale season. What about your area?

Daffodil season faded quickly.

Do you take your children on nature walks to show them reflections and flowers? 

Gray Sky Style

This is our gray sky season, and I've created a special style just for that.  

I have a friend that sends me pictures of royalty in Europe out in the cold gray climates at various events, and if you are into that, you will notice the ladies are always dressed very well even in inclement weather. They might not wear that sort of thing at home, but what I have created here is gray sky fashion to wear at home. 

Why a gray sky fashion? Because I need something to wear with.

A few years ago someone got me this hat at an estate sale. How do you like the way that old gray teapot looks beside it? The hat looks like pearl-gray satin.

 I have never worn gray, but I am liking it a lot more and have put some gray cushions on my furniture. 

To go with that marvelous gray hat, which I like so much, here is an Emma and Mila cotton dress fabric from Walmart, which will be my next home dress.

Although I will be enjoying this as an at-home dress, I am showing the hat with it to share how it goes with, and how I can make the dress more formal. A gray jacket would work for going out.

This is an unusual color combination for me to wear, and never has been my favorite, but I'm trying new things and excited to see how this dress will look.

Today I would also like to share the new covers I made for Grandma's chair and the old couch.

This is called Minky; it is a fleece that looks like chenille, and the color is mint. It looks great with the gray cushions, 

 as you see below in the background.

I had to buy a whole bolt of this fabric (from you know where) and it only covered the couch and one chair, so now I'm on the hunt to get another bolt. Everyone that came to the Ladies Bible Class yesterday said they enjoyed it so much because it was so fresh, light and soft.

I will tell you something else about it: it is a no-sew furniture cover.  It doesn't ravel so you don't need to stitch the edges. It is washable.  It doesn't cling to your clothes and you can get out of the chair easily.  The fabric adheres well to the furniture and does not get messed up.  It does not get worn thin in certain areas.

This is one of the remaining home dresses from my "line of clothing" I did a few years ago where I hung them all on the laundry line outside.  It has gray in the print. I wore it today but was unable to get a picture (and I don't do selfies), as my photographer had appointments elsewhere.

There is a big pile of notes sitting by my computer, waiting for a chance to be spoken in a video about clothing. I'm sure I will go on to other subjects eventually, but I have not run out of things to say about home dressing. 

I wonder how many of us have ever realized the control of the fashion industry on our clothing choices.  It was when I discovered the style I liked best, that I went off on my own.

 I tell people its part of my home constitution, because it guarantees the right to dress pretty and inspiringly at home.

 We don't have to follow the prevailing culture, but we don't have to look dowdy, either, especially as we get older. Our children and grandchildren won't be inspired to admire color, style and beauty by seeing Mom and Grandma in jeans, leggings, shorts and dull worn out clothing all the time.

I met a lady many decades ago when I was about 18, and I was talking to her about sewing my own clothes. She was only in her 50's and she said, "I have clothes not yet worn out, so I'm not going to get any new ones for the rest of my life."

I felt sorry for her that she was not looking forward to new clothes.

So ladies if you are worried about these cotton dresses you make getting dirty or wearing out from house work and gardening, please don't. You will not want to be stuck with them for the rest of your life, anyway.  Ladies have always liked changes of clothing.  

I think back in the 1960's when that polyester fibre was invented, the clothing was indestructible, and not biodegradable, and women were not able to wear it out like we can wear out cottons and wovens and natural fabrics. So, they felt they couldn't buy anything new.  

I don't want to be like that, because each day and each season is so exciting and new. The trees change their leaves, so why can't we change our clothes.  

So many children grow up seeing their mothers and grandmothers in jeans and t-shirts, and big clunky brand name sports shoes. Why not let your little ones enjoy the colors and prints in fabrics of your skirts?

I recently enjoyed watching Princess Cut, a Christian movie about a young woman at home on a farm with her family who was admiring an engagement ring  that had  a stone cut in a special way called "princess cut". You can see this on Youtube or rent it on Amazon.

The movie had a beautiful message and I was heartened by the love in the family, the scenery, the house, and just about everything about it.  

I wish that the costume people would have let the ladies wear long skirts in more of the scenes, which would have been prettier, and more feminine,  and I think they could have managed it by using western style skirts. It was about a farming community, so of course I know they couldn't dress up, but a skirt would have worked really well in some of the beautiful scenery there.  

However I enormously enjoyed the story, and the men's clothing was great. There were so many plaid shirts and I love looking at plaid, although it doesn't look so great on yours truly. 

 I also liked the little brother in the movie; he was so cute.  The big brother was nice too.

 It looked like it was filmed in a historic farm house, or a bed and breakfast resort. I enjoyed the way it was furnished and decorated, as well as the kitchen scenes and the pies!

It has been a long time since I've watched a movie with so many home scenes and family members as the center of the story. I liked that one of the young men spoke favorably of his parents. There is not enough of that these days.

I live near farmland, and the ladies Bible class consists of farm ladies, so I loved watching this movie situated on farmland.

That's my lecture for the day. I am hopeful to get a few more things sewn to show you here.

Thanks for your visit.

Thanks for your sweet donations.

Thanks for your love.
Thanks for your prayers.
Thank you for your comments!!!

Lydia

Added:  Someone in comments suggested using this fabric in a jacket. I recently discovered a sale at HL for these New Look patterns, and thought it would go great with this fabric. There is a jacket in it featuring a printed fabric like this.  While the price on the pattern says $6.59,  it was reduced to $3.00.

         

                               

The pattern is another one which doesn't have wovens and cottons on the recommended list, but it does say linens, and this fabric is similar.

Bold Rose Print Fabric

Painting by Johann Jensen  1800-1856, Danish

Hello Ladies,

It is, as they say, a very blowy day, and the umbrella kept escaping from what was supposed to be a sophisticated fashion photo shoot--you know, with my great professional fashion photographer and the wonderful studio and all that!

This is another easy care, wear and tear dress for  home because it makes me laugh. You are probably laughing, too, but after I sewed it, I checked out Hobbs of London, clicked on dresses, and noticed several very bold rose print dresses for $300. I posted two of them here. I doubt those are wear-at-home dresses.

The cotton was very thin, and I thought I could get away with using this 2018 pattern that actually was made for crepe, challis, charmeuse, double Georgette, and silk.  

However, it required quite an adjustment to make it work with the woven fabrics, so remember that if you think you want to buy this pattern. 

I got this pattern because it was in the $2.97 category of New Look.

 If you ever attempt to make a woven garment from a pattern that was made for silk or crepe, remember you can't make it your normal size. You have to go up. While I usually wear a 10, I had to cut an 18 on this pattern.  So, pay attention the fabric suggestions on the back of the pattern envelope before you buy a pattern. Even then, it won't drape the same way if it's a woven and the pattern is made for non woven.

I quite liked the line drawings on this pattern, but I found that poufiness in the upper back where the gathers are, hard to get used to. 

I've noticed this fullness also in some of the Time and True dresses I bought last year.  Not sure I like it that much.   I'll be taking tucks in the upper back sections to smooth that out.

I will post a photo at the end to show what the dress looks like with a jacket when I wear this "home dress" out in public.

While I made it to wear at home to suit my mood and the weather, but also enjoy the fact that I am free to wear any bold, bright, interesting fabric I like at home, under the freedom of clothing act of my  private Constitution. ☺

One reason I wanted to try this pattern was because the sleeves were not the set-in type that are so difficult.  I didn't care for all the extra work on this pattern, required by the collar piece, but the result was "okay."

I had seen these floral umbrellas on Amazon and Victorian Trading Co. but did not want to pay the cost plus postage, resulting in $50, so I took an old umbrella and ironed on the fabric on the inside with something called Wonder Web:

  With wonder web or any iron-on interfacing, you have to be careful not to get it on your iron, so I suggest using a piece of cotton fabric, called a pressing cloth, or a thin dish towel made of muslin cotton. That way the sticky stuff won't end up on your iron board cover or your iron.

Here is the project being laid out. I've had it sitting here for days just trying to carve out the time to finish it. 

At last I got this lady to model the dress.  She said if the pictures don't look good, she won't be coming back:

You know how to view the pictures.

Ominous clouds above and the freezing temp drove her back inside, (model doesn't get double pay for posing under a black cloud) but we got a few more photos:

I know this seems like an outrageously bold print for a dress at home, but after I finished it, I thought I would check around the web and see if there were any designs using huge flowers and I found these recent designs which are over $300 apiece. 

There were also some super large rose print dresses on Pinterest. 

Thanks for tuning in, and hopefully you will see me here again soon, with the next project I am now working on.

Details:

4 yards fabric, David Textiles from Walmart @$5.00 a yard = $20

Black Thread $3

Pattern  $3

Zipper $2

Approximate total $28

This is more than I usually pay for sewing supplies but it was a better quality fabric and thread.

This dress is as smooth as silk and very comfortable, and although I might not use this pattern again, I'm glad to have something different to wear at home and it is quite a mood-lifter (it makes me laugh)!

 Hmmm...I think props are a pain in a photoshoot, especially in a strong wind when they won't stay near you. This umbrella made itself into a sail and the model had an awful time of it.

Close ups to show you how large this rose print  by David Textiles is:

 Mr. S. says he likes it because there won't be any pressure to buy roses since I'm wearing them. 

Added: Picture of the dress with black corduroy jacket and wool hat:

I am amazed at this hat. I got it at Walmart for about $6.00 and it is 100% wool. Later I attached half a yard of this feather trim.  I had seen this sort of hat in a gift shop for $150 and I was able to do it for about $7.00.

I assume you know how to view the photos so I'll just post them here as small. And please notice how I dressed up this outrageous print by toning it down with the jacket and hat accessories, to wear to market today. I don't think the hat will survive in this wind though, so I'll leave it home. It is just a prop for the fashion thing.

I wish you could see the back of this jacket. It has a little peplum pleat on it that is so pretty.

 Trying to hold on to that hat!!

I got the hat several years ago when it was pouring rain, when I noticed Mr. S. never uses an umbrella. He wears a hat, which he says does a good job of keeping him dry. 

Here's another version of the dress with an bright pink jacket and umbrella:

Do you see that stream of water beyond the road, in the background? That's the creek I keep saying I hope won't rise!

Added:

And now for a treat, here are some bright bold roses from an Eastern European designer, which I have on my Pinterest board of dresses. You can click on my Pinterest account from the left side of this blog.

Katarina Dorokhova designs

This is the one most similar to mine. It must take about 7 yards. Since all I could get that was on the bolt was 4 yards, I had to piece it in the back, but it turned out to be a very good dress for home. I do' not want them really full, catching on things, or too fussy. However I get some inspiration from these dresses!!

Would be nice to have historical buildings like this to go with the dresses, but I have my front porch ruins from 1952. There are not many historical buildings out in farm land or the forests, but there are plenty of old barns in this area.

Lovely!! Do you wish we could wear these here?  I don't.  I never wish anymore!!  I quit wishing a long time ago and began making it happen. Making a dress puts the whole matter in my own hands, and I can wear one of these dresses at home if I like. We aren't limited to sewing though, ladies, because things like this can often be found, in skirts or jackets, if you are on the lookout for them. 

To wear them elsewhere, they look great with a jacket, as shown in one of these pictures. If I were to make the one with the jacket, it would be a lot more roomy, not so small, but it is the idea I use, not the exact picture.